


Not Important

by sandersonsister



Series: Soulmate AU's - Haikyuu! [16]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Compliant, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 07:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14564127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandersonsister/pseuds/sandersonsister
Summary: Oikawa didn't care if the first year from Karasuno was his soulmate. He had more important things to worry about. Like volleyball.





	Not Important

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here's another one! Any of the dialogue you recognize is from the show with my own things woven in. As usual. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! As always, let me know what you think!

He noticed it when he was watching the practice match. He had been watching to analyze Karasuno, to see their weaknesses before he was placed into the game. He noticed almost instantly that the shortest member and the tallest, both first years he assumed, were horrible at receives. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he considered the multiple ways he could exploit the information. He was still studying the two boys when he saw it.

 

There, on the back of the tall blond’s leg, was a very familiar mark.

 

Oh.

 

So his soulmate played with Karasuno. His soulmate played with Kageyama.

 

How _interesting_.

 

Oikawa had never really cared about soulmates. He knew that somewhere in the world was someone that had a matching mark to his own. However, he also knew that statistically, the chance of meeting that person was low. So he had never really thought about it after he realized you didn’t need your soulmate to be happy. His sister had met her soulmate and the man had left her shortly after she became pregnant with his nephew. They had not spoken to him since. His parents were mated and he had known for years that his father was sleeping with his secretary – who was also married to her soulmate. His mother lived in a constant state of denial that everything between them was fine. After all, she couldn’t have her society friends looking down on her.

 

Needless to say, he didn’t really put a lot of stock into the whole soulmate thing.

 

He had at first. When he was young he used to dream about meeting his soulmate. About falling in love with that person and just knowing that they would be together forever. The type of meetings that you saw in movies and read about in books. He had wanted that.

 

But he had been six.

 

He frowned at the thought as his eyes zeroed in on the first year. Yes, it didn’t matter if this person was supposed to be his soulmate. What mattered was that he was a weakness on Karasuno’s team.

 

And Oikawa could use it.

 

Though he had to admit, he was thankful that the mark was on the back of the right leg, almost to the knee. That meant that his leg brace, which was slightly longer then the kneepads, covered it completely.

 

Soon enough, Oikawa was placed into the game as a pinch-server. “No matter how strong your offense is,” he said quietly, so quietly he was sure Karasuno couldn’t actually hear him. “It means nothing if you can’t connect to it.” He shifted, pointing toward the blond from Karasuno. He saw the startled look on the blondes face and felt a smirk cross his own. Yes, this would do nicely. He tossed the ball up into the air and served. The ball flew toward the blonde and Oikawa watched in pleasure as the blond failed to receive it cleanly. It bounced off of Glasses-kun’s arms and up into the balcony.

 

He really did enjoy the look of shock on his opponent’s faces the first time they witnessed his serve. “Just as I thought. I watched part of the match…you, number 6, and you, number 5. You’re not good receivers, are you?” He taunted with a smile most people would call ‘charming’. Those who knew him knew better. Glasses-kun didn’t seem to believe it either by the way his eyes narrowed. Interesting. “You must be first years. Okay, let’s score another one.”

 

And score he did, serving right toward the blonde yet again. The look on the first-years face was just too…pleasurable to ignore.

 

“Oh, one more point and we’re tied,” Oikawa said brightly.

 

“Hey! You! Great King!” What the hell was that? His eyes skimmed the opposing team until they landed on the redheaded first year. The kid was literally throwing some sort of fit in the middle of the court. Even his nephew didn’t do that. _Great King?_ Was he talking about him? “Aim here! I’ll receive it! Don’t underestimate me! Aim here!”

 

“Stop raising a fuss, it’s embarrassing!” Oikawa heard the blond snap. Well, at least he agreed with him on that. He had to admit, Chibi-chan was interesting. And odd. Interesting and odd.

 

“What did you say?” Chibi-chan suddenly growled. He turned, facing the blond and spread his arms out wide. “In volleyball, everyone on this side of the net is your ally!”

 

Well now, how about that? Oikawa bit back a grin when he saw the look of disgust on Glasses-kun’s face at those words. Ohh, he was pretty sure that was the same look Iwaizumi had when Oikawa said something ‘crappy’. How entertaining. When it wasn’t focused on him, anyway.

 

Oikawa watched as the captain said something to the others on the court and the four moved so they were close to the side. “Hmm,” Oikawa said thoughtfully as he watched them. “So Captain-kun, expert at receiving is expanding the defense. However…you can’t defend it by yourself!” Oikawa said as he served, still aiming for the blond. It wasn’t as powerful as his usual serves as he had to direct it to a more narrow location, but it was worth it to see if the first year was actually able to receive it. The blond did so and a smirk crossed Oikawa face. “He got it. Good for him,” he sighed. He might not want anything to do with a soulmate bond but he would have been disappointed if his soulmate had completely sucked at the game. “Maybe I made it too easy for him. However…this is our chance ball.”  The ball flew straight toward him and Oikawa chuckled, “There. A sweet, sweet chance ball. Score it good guys.” He watched as Yahaba set the ball to Kindaichi and chibi-chan suddenly appeared in the block. Well, he was certainly quick.

 

“It’s up!” Kageyama said as he ran forward to intercept it.

 

He watched as the kid landed and then seemed to transport to the other side of the court in an instant. Before he could comprehend what was happening, the ball was somehow at Chibi-chan’s hand and the kid looked right at him as his hand flew forward. Oikawa knew what was going to happen just a moment before it did. The ball flew past him, close enough that he felt it graze his hair. He turned his head slightly to watch as the ball bounced away. What. Was. That?

 

Oikawa felt his team rally around him as the game ended but he couldn’t help but stare toward Karasuno. “Wow,” he said softly, a smile coming over his face. Wasn’t that interesting?

 

Not only did they have Tobio-chan, they had a play like that. A play that no normal person would be able to pull off. That just pissed him off.

 

He managed to break away from Iwaizumi and moved to the front gates, wanting to see Karasuno before they left. There was no way his best friend would have let him go if he knew what Oikawa had planned. Oh well, it was Iwa-chan’s fault for not paying attention.

 

Even Oikawa could admit, that last spike was amazing. As was the toss. He always knew Kageyama would turn out to be amazing. But it wasn’t time for that. Not yet. Not while Oikawa was still here. He saw Karasuno, clad in all black, moving toward him and he listened with a tilted head as Captain-kun began to speak. “Takeda-sensei complimented us,” he said slowly, “but, frankly, if we were facing Seijoh and Oikawa in an all-out match, we’d be lacking.” You bet you would.

 

“Spoken like a true captain,” Oikawa said with a smirk as he leaned against the front gate. He saw the entire team freeze when they caught sight of him. It was a very pleasurable reaction. “You know your stuff,” he admitted.

 

“The Great King makes his entrance!” Chibi-chan declared loudly. Oikawa felt himself smirk at the small first-year. He wasn’t so sure how he felt about the nickname, but if it implied he was greater than Kageyama…

 

Well, who was he to complain?

 

“You got a problem?” Baldy, Tanaka, his mind contributed, asked Oikawa. He moved forward in what was supposed to be an imposing manner, but Oikawa thought the effect was somewhat ruined by the small redhead that hid behind him. Besides, Iwa-chan scared him more than this guy ever could.

 

“Wanna fight, huh?” Hinata questioned.

 

“Don’t be so hostile,” Oikawa said, waving his hand around and moving to stand up straight. “You, little one,” Chibi-chan paled and Oikawa fought back a loud laugh, “your last one-touch and broad attack were amazing.”

 

“Oh…” the kid blushed.

 

 “Let’s give it all we got the next time, right from the start,” Oikawa continued. “You didn’t get to see our set up. Oh, yes, and we’ll be improving our serves, too,” he said with a grin at the blond. Said blond scowled slightly and Oikawa suddenly had the urge to go up to him and flick him in the forehead to stop him from getting that frown on his face. It would cause wrinkles and his soulmate should _not_ have wrinkles. He shook the feeling off and continued. “It’s true, your offense was amazing but your receives aren’t polished. You’ll reach your limit very quickly. I’m not the only one who hits powerful serves.” He moved, walking toward the school. “The Inter-High preliminaries are coming up soon. Don’t get eliminated, okay?” He stopped right in front of Kageyama. “Because I…” he pointed at Kageyama dramatically and could almost hear the comments Iwaizumi would be giving him if he saw this. “…want to pulverize my dear underclassman, setter-on-setter, in an official match.”

 

“The receivers will train!” Chibi-chan declared. He had moved to stand beside the blond and Oikawa raised an eyebrow at the look of irritation the other first year wore as the redhead touched him. Oikawa felt his lips twitching at the sight. How cute.

 

“Hey, let go!” Glasses-kun protested and Oikawa mentally scowled at the boy’s voice. It was somehow…comforting, even with the irritated tone.

 

“Receivers don’t improve overnight,” Oikawa responded. He decided it was time to go. He was getting really tired of this game and he really wanted to be away from the blond. “There’s not much time left till the tournament. I look forward to seeing you there.”

 

He moved away quickly and walked back into the gym, hoping that Karasuno would take his words to heart. He wanted to play Kageyama in a real match and it wouldn’t do any good if they got eliminated before then.

 

“Oi! We’re supposed to be cleaning! Where have you been?” Iwaizumi demanded as soon as he walked in.

 

“Just having a friendly chat,” Oikawa replied with a smile. His best friend didn’t seem even slightly convinced.

 

“Kageyama has become more amazing,” Iwaizumi said carefully as Oikawa picked up a nearby volleyball and began to toss it up and down. Why was Iwa-chan bringing Kageyama up? How irritating.

 

“Yeah. That genius was spinning his wheels but finally found his best destination,” Oikawa replied, not giving in to the obvious challenge. “No commoner could hold a candle to him now.”

 

“Yeah?” Iwaizumi said blankly, “You’re no match for him either, then?”

 

“When it comes to the toss,” Oikawa replied, knowing what he was saying was the truth. No matter how much he wanted to deny it. “There’s probably no one in the prefecture who could match Tobio’s toss,” Oikawa admitted as he continued to toss the ball. He noticed Iwaizumi move from the corner of his vision but he knew Iwaizumi wasn’t actually walking away from him. “But he’s not better than me at serving, blocking, or spiking.” Oikawa barely got the words out before something slammed into this back, causing him to drop the ball. “Ouch!”

 

“Damn it, Oikawa! Don’t say his toss is better than yours!” Iwaizumi snapped. “You’re a setter, aren’t you?”  

 

“But I’m only being honest!” Oikawa said with a frown. “That’s why we have to break their receivers. Because no matter how amazing his tosses are, if the ball doesn’t get to the setter, it’s all for nothing,” he explained, “If we can play against Karasuno in an official game, we can make a mess out of their receives and not even give them a chance at a toss. Just having one good player doesn’t mean you’ll win. How I want to say ‘don’t mind’ to them! How I want to say it.”

 

Iwaizumi glared and Oikawa frowned in confusion at the look. “What? Don’t geniuses piss you off?”

 

“Guys that girls squeal over piss me off even more,” Iwaizumi growled.

 

“You shouldn’t be jealous, Iwa-chan! It’s embarrassing!”

 

Another volleyball was thrown at his head and Oikawa had to duck out of the way. “Hey! Quit fooling around! Coach’ll get mad!” Someone yelled as Oikawa whimpered, “Iwa- _chan_!”.

 

Iwaizumi stopped throwing things and moved toward him slowly. “Are we going to talk about the fact that that kid had your soulmark?”

 

Oikawa felt his stomach drop. “What?”

 

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. “Come on, Trashykawa. I’ve known you for years and I’ve seen that damn mark more times than I can count. You really think I didn’t notice?” he rolled his eyes as Oikawa continued to stare at him in surprise. He didn’t think Iwa-chan was that observant! “Besides, not even you are crappy enough to pick on a first year like that without a reason. So what was it? You annoyed because he’s on the same team as Kageyama?”

 

“I am _not_!” Oikawa whined as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Mean, Iwa-chan!”

 

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and moved toward the rest of their team. “Whatever. If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t. I’m certainly not going to make you. Just don’t let it interfere.”

 

“I _wouldn’t_!”

 

They practiced hard the next month. Inter-High was growing closer and Oikawa hadn’t lied when he told Karasuno that they were going to improve their serves. He finally got Iwa-chan to stay after with him and his serve had improved greatly. He carefully kept his thoughts away from the tall blond first year. It didn’t matter. He had more important things to work on and think about.

 

As long as the blond didn’t find out, everything would be fine. He could pretend it never happened.

 

It was finally time for Inter-High and Oikawa was ready. This was the first step and then he would finally be able to beat Ushiwaka and prove that he hadn’t made a mistake by choosing Aobajōsai like the other boy constantly claimed. Iwaizumi didn’t say a word as they traveled to the school to meet the rest of the team. He knew just how important this was. Oikawa thanked the aliens above that he had a best friend that understood that there were times he had to be closed off from everything else to focus on what truly mattered. Well, what mattered to him anyway.

 

The team greeted them with smiles but Oikawa could see that they were just as nervous, just as ready as he was. They were subdued on the way to the courts, Oikawa only managing to nod along as Coach spoke of the other teams in their block. They were almost to the doors when a group of girls flooded around the setter, cutting him off from the rest of the team. He flashed them a bright smile and laughed as they began to chatter. Yahaba paused for a moment to help Oikawa escape but Oikawa simply waved him on. He needed the distraction and they weren’t going to be playing for awhile anyway. He could meet up with everyone later.

 

“Oikawa, do you have a girlfriend?” One of the girls asked brightly, her eyes fluttering.

 

Oikawa flashed a bright smile but inside he was rolling his eyes. Did every conversation he has have to start off like this? “I’m focusing on volleyball at the moment,” he said happily, smiling once again as another girl held out a bag of cookies.

 

“I made these for you!” She said loudly, cutting off a response from the first girl, “I hope your team does well today!”

 

Oikawa reached into the bag and carefully took out one of the treats. “Thank you,” he responded, quickly taking a bite to appease her. “It’s delicious! You really made this?”

 

“Yes! I stayed up all night making them!” She exclaimed and Oikawa inwardly winced at her bright tone. How annoying.

 

“That’s so nice! Thanks!”

 

“It was nothing!”

 

“Oikawa-san, can I take a picture with you?”

 

“A picture? Sure?” He replied with a yet another forced smile.

 

He moved toward the girl when it happened. He yelled out in pain as something slammed into the back of his head, making him stumble forward. “Ouch! Not even the coach hits me-“ Oikawa started furiously, turning to yell at whoever had dared to hit him. He stopped speaking instantly when he saw his absolutely furious vice-captain standing there, volleyball in hand. “Uh, sorry. Let’s do the picture another time,” Oikawa sent one last smile toward the girls and hurried toward Iwaizumi.

 

“We’re going,” Iwaizumi snarled as Oikawa got close. He grabbed onto Oikawa’s arm and tugged him into the building, Oikawa letting out a yelp as he did so.

 

“Iwa-chan! Be careful!”

 

“What the hell were you doing?” Iwaizumi demanded as he continued to pull him. “This isn’t the time for – Coach wants us to watch Karasuno.”  


Oikawa stopped complaining instantly and picked up his footsteps. Karasuno. That’s right. They needed to watch the crows to see how much they had improved. If Karasuno won there was a chance they would be playing them. And Oikawa was not going to let Kageyama win.

 

“Nice of you to join us,” Coach snapped as they met up with the rest of the team. “Alright, let’s go,” he grumbled, leading the way into the gym.

 

The team moved forward, searching for seats with a good viewpoint. There wouldn’t be a point in watching if they couldn’t make out what was happening. “Oh! It’s Turnip Head!” someone said loudly. Oikawa fought back a smile, one Kumini didn’t bother to hide, as Kindaichi looked toward the court questioningly. “Turnip Head? What’s that?”

 

“It’s you. What else?” Kunimi laughed.

 

Kindaichi glared, “What?”

 

Oikawa saw both Chibi-chan and Tobio staring at the two first years. Well, that couldn’t happen. He needed attention too! “Yoohoo! Tobio-chan, chibi-chan! How’s the freak duo doing?” He asked as he leaned over the railing and enjoying look twin looks of horror that spread across their faces the moment they noticed him.

 

“It’s the Great King!” Oikawa heard as he was once again wincing in pain as something slammed into his back.

 

 _Damn! In the same spot…_ “That hurt, Iwa-chan!” He whined. The pain faded from his memory as his eye caught something on the court. “Oh. They have a libero. He wasn’t there for the practice match…”

 

“Neither was the big guy,” Iwaizumi said, coming up to lean beside him. Oikawa followed his gaze to the tall number three.

 

“Ooh, interesting,” Oikawa commented with a smirk. “This might be worth the time after all.”

 

“Such a crappy guy.”

 

“Iwa-chan!”

 

Oikawa slumped into a chair, leaving Iwaizumi leaning against the railing. He let his eyes travel over the players in front of him. He was sure the other team would be just as confused as his own team once they started to play. He would enjoy seeing the reactions when Tobio and chibi pulled off that quick.

 

It wasn’t until his eyes landed on a specific person that Oikawa realized he had been looking for someone. Oh. The blond first year. His soulmate. Oikawa felt his hands clench. This was not the time for him to be distracted. He had other things to worry about and he wasn’t going to let that tall kid be one of them.

 

“Their opponents are confused,” Iwaizumi said in amusement and Oikawa was finally able to pull his gaze away from the Karasuno first year. “But you can’t blame them. I mean, a middle blocker competes with the tallest players.”

 

“Those that underestimate him have another thing coming,” Kindaichi muttered.

 

Iwaizumi laughed loudly in response, “Spoken from experience.”

  
“I’ll grind them to dust next time,” Kindaichi vowed.

 

Oikawa felt a small grin take over at the words. Well, he couldn’t say his first years weren’t dedicated. He fixed his eyes back on the game as the whistle blew. Within the first few plays he knew that things were different. Karasuno was different. And that libero was quick. Very quick. Just with him as an addition, the team had changed dramatically from the team he had seen a few weeks ago.

 

Oikawa yawned pointedly as Karasuno’s apparent ace spiked and people in the stand began to murmur. Yes, the man had power behind his spike but it was nothing compared to Iwa-chan’s.

 

“Wow, that’s awesome power,” Iwaizumi muttered and Oikawa glared as Kindaichi agreed.

 

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa reprimanded and was promptly ignored. He was going to continue to whine but then he saw it. The shrimp was jumping.

 

Oikawa jumped out of his own chair and moved toward the railing. He watched in amazement as Tobio and chibi pulled off their quick attack. “Wow,” he muttered as his eyes trailed the odd duo. He felt more than saw Iwaizumi’s nod in agreement. With a sigh, Oikawa moved to gracefully slide back into his chair. “I don’t think Karasuno will have much of a problem with this match.”

 

“Such a crappy guy,” Iwaizumi muttered but Oikawa didn’t bother to respond to his best friend. He knew he really loved him, no matter how much he denied it.

 

“It looks like they’re going to win the first set in no time,” Kindiachi mused.

 

“That libero is a pesky one,” Iwaizumi commented and Oikawa had to agree. He hadn’t taken that little one into his plans. “Now that the dude with the beard is playing, Kageyama has even more options.”

 

Stupid Kageyama.

 

Oikawa crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into his chair. Iwaizumi was right. At their practice match, Karasuno was still a disjointed and had a group on unreliable players. They still haven’t reached their full potential, potential Oikawa would be happy if they never realized they had, but they had certainly improved.

 

And giving more options, any options, to Kageyama was dangerous.

 

Oikawa didn’t like it.

 

Iwaizumi slid into the seat next to him as Karasuno took the first match. “Glasses isn’t too bad. Needs some work but he blocks well.”

 

“I didn’t notice,” Oikawa said airily though they both knew it was a lie. Oikawa had found his eyes being drawn toward the blond more and more as the game went on. Iwaizumi was right – the blond wasn’t bad. But Oikawa could tell that he didn’t care, at all. It came across in his playing. Oikawa wondered why the blond played when he didn’t seem to enjoy it.

 

“Sure you didn’t,” Iwaizumi muttered. He shot is friend one last smirk before once again joining Kindaichi at the railing.

 

Kageyama was up to serve first in the next set. Oikawa sat up in his chair as his former kohai took on a familiar stance. He couldn’t…

 

“A service ace…” Kindaichi gasped.

 

Oikawa growled when Iwaizumi sent him a look over his shoulder. Oikawa was furious. How the hell had Tobio learned that? “Karasuno has stepped up their game, even after winning the first set,” Iwaizumi commented.

 

Oikawa watched in annoyance as his former kohai pulled off yet another service ace. He still had work to do to get to Oikawa’s standards, a lot of work, but there was no doubt he was going to get there.

 

And he hated that thought.

 

The match continued and soon enough, Karasuno had claimed victory. Oikawa’s eyes trailed the blond first year as he made his way off of the court and out of sight with others from the team, leaving only the coach, manager, and odd duo in his view.

 

“Do they realize they have to play another match this afternoon?” Kindaichi questioned.

 

  
“Huh?”

 

“I mean, it was impossible for the other team to make a comeback. They should’ve conserved their energy-“

 

No.

 

“I’m glad they didn’t,” Oikawa cut in as he got to his feet. “We got to see them be serious, although we didn’t get to see that freak quick.”

 

“The match on that court’s done, too,” Maki said as he walked over to the three, “Dateko won handedly.”

 

“So it will be Dateko vs Karasuno. Who will win?” Kindaichi questioned.

 

“Let’s go,” Iwaizumi cut in, moving past the first year and placing his hand on Oikawa’s arm. “It won’t matter if we don’t win.” His hand slipped off of Oikawa and he and the others walked off to join the rest of the team. Oikawa didn’t move. His eyes were fixated on the two odd Karasuno players. He wanted to play them. He wanted to have a true match with them.

 

“Do well against Date Tech,” he muttered as he moved his eyes away and began to walk toward his team. “Let’s play a game, Tobio-chan.”

 

He couldn’t help but be distracted throughout their game. Karasuno was on the court next to them and he loved watching Dateko’s reactions and plans when dealing with the odd team. But he couldn’t say he wasn’t irritated at being closer to the blond. More than once he saw a flash of that stupid mark as the boy jumped and Oikawa just knew he was scowling from the confused glances he received from his own teammates.

 

“You can’t be distracted during the game tomorrow,” Iwaizumi told him later that night with a scowl. “We were lucky today. You kept watching Karasuno and not focusing on our own game!”

 

“I did not-“

 

“Don’t lie to me crappykawa!”

 

Oikawa sighed. “I know. Don’t worry. We’ll win.”

 

***8***8***8***8***8***8***8***8***8***8

 

To say Oikawa was excited about the next match was an understatement. “Calm down,” Iwaizumi finally snapped as they walked into the gym.

 

“We’re going to win,” Oikawa informed his friend brightly.

 

“I know,” Iwaizumi sighed, most likely because Oikawa had been chanting the same thing all morning. “Come on, let’s warm up and get this started.”

 

Soon enough, Oikawa found himself shaking hands with Karasuno’s captain, “Let’s play.”

 

They began warming up, Oikawa giving his teammates encouragement as they did so. Well…most of his teammates. There was a small incident when Oikawa told Iwaizumi he was working too hard and it wasn’t like any of the girls would be looking at him anyway. Kindaichi had to hold the third year back from his captain. Oikawa merely laughed. He hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true – the girls would be too focused on him to pay attention to the Iwa-chan.

 

Not that it really mattered.

 

The two teams lined up, Iwaizumi smacking Oikawa in the back of the head as they did so. Oikawa found himself staring at a familiar face. Glasses-kun stared back at him, eyebrows raised. Oikawa didn’t smile. He made his face carefully blank as he stared at the younger boy. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, he glanced down to make sure his brace was firmly in place. It wouldn’t do to have it slip during the game.

 

That would ruin his plans.

 

Feeling another pair of eyes on him, Oikawa forced himself to look to the side slightly. He met another familiar face. Blue eyes glared at him and Oikawa couldn’t help but throw a wink Tobio’s way. “Idiot,” Iwaizumi muttered from beside him.

 

Oikawa moved forward as soon as he was able, moving to intercept the opposing setting, “Tobio-chan,” he started, making the first year turn to him in surprise. “I came here excited to take down the genius setter, so do your best, and hold on,” he taunted with a smirk.

 

Tobio’s expression didn’t change but he did turn to face him fully, “We will win-“

 

“We won’t lose!” Another voice cut in and Oikawa found his sight blocked by bright orange hair.

 

Oikawa couldn’t help but stare at the furious shrimp as Kageyama berated him for cutting in on the conversation. He then turned back to Oikawa, “We won’t lose this time either!”

 

“Eh? I guess we’ll see,” Oikawa smirked, his hand resting on his hip.

 

A few minutes later and both teams were making their way onto the court, “Okay, let’s do this,” Oikawa said, “Now then, as usual… I believe in all of you.” They all huddled and Oikawa smirked, “Let’s go!”

 

First serve was Glasses-kun and Oikawa was almost disappointed at how light a serve it was. No matter, no matter. He shouldn’t care, he should actually be thankful. He shouldn’t be thinking about anything other than the game. He looked up at the ball in frustration. He really should set that, probably to Iwaizumi as an opening move.

 

However…

 

He jumped. He took out his frustration on the ball, spiking it as hard as he could. He felt his lips twitch when he saw the looks of shock on Karasuno’s faces.

 

Well, he suddenly felt better.

 

“Come on, I’ll be doing the same thing again,” he said to the other team, taunting them. “Don’t stand there so out of it. Pay attention.”

 

“Is it time for the mind games already?” Iwaizumi muttered as he made his way back to his position.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Iwa-chan.”

 

“Such a crappy guy.”

 

For his own amusement, Oikawa made it obvious that he was going to spike the ball the next play – only to turn it into a set for his ace.

 

He really did love those looks.

 

“Hey, that was a little low,” Iwaizumi said as the stands erupted into cheers.

 

“Really? Sorry about that,” Oikawa returned, amused that Iwa was choosing to point that out now. “But, Iwa-chan, you usually hit it regardless.”

 

He was still amused with his best friend as the next play started. And then it happened.

 

“I’ll be doing the same thing again. Pay attention!”

 

And there went all amusement. It was replaced by pure rage that had Oikawa clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. “You stupid little brat.”

 

“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi snapped instantly as he moved forward. “Come on,” Oikawa had no intention of moving. He was considering if it would be worth getting suspended from the game if he dove under the net to attack the- “Now.”

 

Oikawa reacted to the words from his friend. Right, this wasn’t the time. He needed to beat Tobio but not like that. Iwaizumi moved closer to him. “Take a deep breath. It’s one point. We’ll get it back on the next play. Now, come on. Kageyama is serving,” Iwaizumi muttered, motioning for Oikawa to get into position.

 

Oikawa felt his scowl return. Yes, serving. A jump serve. That little…

 

“He sure blew that one out of the park,” Iwaizumi said in amusement as the ball flew completely off the court.

 

Oikawa was giggling. Tobio-chan really did have a long way to go. “What an amazing homerun.”

 

“Hey, I was right. We got the point back.”  


“He practically gave it to us.”

 

Oikawa smirked as the ball was tossed to him. “Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to show you how it’s done.”

 

He took aim at the libero. There were two reasons for this. One, if the libero missed than it would help break down the other team. Knowing that their libero couldn’t get his serve…well, it would be perfect ammunition. Second, if he did get it, Oikawa would be able to pick out flaws and strengths in the kid.

 

Either option was helpful in the long run.

 

He watched closely as the libero moved to intercept the serve, sending it up. “Aw man, he really is amazing!” Oikawa said as he ran forward.

 

“What do you mean, ‘show you how it’s done’?” Iwaizumi snapped. “He received it without a problem!”

 

Poor Iwa-chan. Oikawa just laughed sheepishly, knowing that Iwa-chan wouldn’t be happy with his reasons for aiming at the libero. He never liked it when Oikawa played head games with the opposition. Probably because poor Iwa-chan couldn’t keep up.

 

Karasuno took the point with another freak quick. “That god-like toss should be against the rules. Jeez,” Oikawa muttered.

 

“Sorry I keep messing up,” Kindaichi apologized earnestly.

 

Oikawa sent a small smile toward his kohai. “Well, they are the Karasuno that toyed with Date Tech. Let’s just wait a bit,” Oikawa told him. “It shouldn’t be much longer.” He moved to tie his shoe, keeping his face down so no one could see the smirk. The longer he took to do this, the longer the delay was to start the round. Which meant more time to goad Kindaichi. “More importantly, Kindaichi, I’m sure you’re rather frustrated that the role of Kageyama’s partner was stolen by that little shrimp.”

 

“No, not really-“

 

“It’s fine. Don’t sweat it,” Oikawa continued on as if the first year hadn’t spoken. “Even if Tobio thought of you as a minion that wasn’t very useful in junior high, I, the great Oikawa-san, will prove that you’re amazing, even without using god-like quicks.”

 

He stood and gently prodded Kindaichi forward. “So don’t worry and just jump.”

 

“What the hell did you just do?” Iwaizumi muttered as Oikawa moved past him.

 

“What I needed to,” Oikawa responded, holding back a smirk.

 

He didn’t have to hold it back only a moment later with Kindaichi scored. “So crappy,” Iwaizumi muttered as he moved to serve.

 

Karasuno scored but it was that play that it finally clicked with Oikawa. What he had been waiting for. He quickly motioned for coach to call a time-out and moved toward the side with the rest of the team. From the corner of his eye, he caught the panic that briefly flashed across Kageyama’s features.

 

“I’m pretty sure I’m right about this,” Oikawa started as he glanced around at his team, “It’s ‘bring it’ and ‘to me’. I noticed that shrimp would always yell something when he’d move in on the ball, and I thought it seemed pretty stupid. But when they use that god-like quick attack, it appears they are using ‘bring it’ like ‘bring it here’ or ‘bring it to me’. And with a normal one they’re using ‘to me’. But that shrimps role is to be the decoy. They want us to focus our attention on him. So let’s just set up a simple rule. When we hear ‘bring it’, let’s just have one person mark the shrimp. When we hear ‘to me’, let’s see where the toss goes before we jump. Okay?”

 

“Right!” His teammates yelled out in agreement.

 

“Considering we took a time out this early when nothing’s really happened yet, don’t you think they realized that we’ve realized what they’re doing?” Iwaizumi asked.

 

“That’s completely fine. It’s actually better if they realize it!” Oikawa assured the ace. “If they know that we’ve realized they’re using those signals, it might be minimal, but Tobio will panic.”

 

Iwaizumi let out a sigh, “Of course that would make you happy.”

 

Oikawa wasn’t going to lie and say it was an easy game. It wasn’t. At all. Actually, it was much more difficult than he expected. They won the first set but Karasuno managed to get the second. And that third…well, Oikawa wasn’t going to lie and say he hadn’t been worried.

 

But they did it. They won.

 

That third year setter had caused a lot of problems. The entire dynamic of the team had changed when he had entered the game. But that was okay. Now they knew for next time. It wasn’t as if it had caused them to lose, after all.

 

The one good thing was that Oikawa could tell that Kageyama and the blonde did not get along.

 

That made him happy.

 

He decided he wasn’t going to explore that.

 

He had more important things to worry about.

 

Like beating Shiritorizawa.

 

***8***8***8***8***8***8***8***

 

They didn’t win.

 

For what felt like the millionth time, Oikawa lost to Ushiwaka.

 

It was all for nothing.

 

“We’ll get them in the spring,” Iwaizumi told him as they lay on the floor of Oikawa’s room. Oikawa didn’t bother to respond. Spring was the only chance they had left. If they lost, Oikawa would lose his chance to prove to Ushiwaka that he was better than him. They would lose the chance to go to Nationals. They would graduate and it would all be over.

 

And his time playing with Iwa-chan would be done.

 

“Hey, are you ever going to talk to the Glasses kid?” Iwaizumi finally asked. Oikawa rolled his head to the right so he could stare at his best friend incredulously. “What?” Iwaizumi responded. “You still going to pretend that it doesn’t exist?”

 

Oikawa sighed loudly and sat up, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why are you asking about this now? We have things to do! We have to practice and get better or we’re never going to win against-“

 

“We will,” Iwaizumi retorted as he sat up as well. “But there are other things to focus on too.”

 

Well, now he knew his best friend had lost his mind. “Like _what_?”

 

Iwaizumi was wearing that expression that showed just how much of an idiot he thought Oikawa was. “Oh, I don’t know, moron. Entrance exams?”

 

Oh. Those. “Those will be fine, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa said, waving his hand around as if he could wipe the words away. “Volleyball comes first! Exams second!”

 

“That isn’t how that works, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi snapped with a fierce scowl. “And where does you first-year soulmate fit into this? Third?”

 

“Eh?” Oikawa questioned. “No. More like…fifth. Or something. I don’t know.”  


“Such a crappy guy.”


End file.
